


Empty Graves

by SpriteDyn4m1t3



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Pacifist Route, Past Character Death, Post-Pacifist Route, Spoilers - Pacifist Route, Undertale Spoilers, death mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 09:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5043019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpriteDyn4m1t3/pseuds/SpriteDyn4m1t3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the fight with Asriel, the barrier was broken, the monsters were free,<br/>And the coffins were empty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Soul (Cyan)

**Author's Note:**

> Ah! Thank you so much for reading!  
> (More chapters will be posted soon)

* * *

 

Before leaving the underground, you awoke to a disgusting inhale of dust, the suffocating grip of bandages, and pitch black darkness.

Panic is the first emotion you feel as you struggle to escape the tightly wound wrappings, but you force yourself to stop.

You must wait, like you did before you faced  _him._ Like you did before, well, whatever happened that made you end up here.

You need to wait so you can listen for him, and avoid him so what ever happened _doesn't happen again_.

\-------

While leaving the Underground, you are sure that there is some memory of yours missing.

You had no memory of changing into a shirt bearing the crest.

You had no memory of being wrapped in bandages.

You had no memory of being placed in a coffin.

And yet, there you were, placed in a coffin, wrapped in bandages, and in a shirt that wasn't your own.

\--------

After leaving the underground, you decide to try and remember the events leading up to this.

You try to remember Mt. Ebott, the fall. The flowers.

Home.

Yet, any memory you try to remember before your awakening either involves a flash of light, or the large, intimidating stature of ASGORE.

ASGORE, the man, no, _the monster_  who killed you.

The monster whose body you last saw laying limp in the dark room behind the throne.

You shudder as you remember his tears as he brought his trident down upon you.

You shudder as you realize that you were the first to die.

The terrible, dark thoughts as dark as the Underground itself are interrupted as you exit the cave into the warmth of the rising sun.

The sun's beams of soothing light sinks into your skin and loosens them as would oil to metal.

The feeling as the sun continues to rise and envelop your body reminds you of the warm hug of your foster mother, TORIEL.

It reminds you of home, and it feels like you've waited a long time to feel this way again.

Your thoughts are once again interrupted, but not by light, but by large, stomping footsteps you couldn't believe you didn't notice.

* * *

 

 


	2. The Second Soul (Orange)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second soul awakens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the hits even with such a small first chapter. I'm so happy so many people enjoy it so far.  
> Though, there is some stuff I want to go over:  
> Every chapter will be different.  
> They'll be based on my perception of the other human souls who had fallen to the underground before Frisk (the page I use for the reference is the undertale wiki with /wiki/List_of_Human_Souls added to the url haha lol) and the writing WILL reflect that. I just wanted to say this because I kinda feel like the 1st chapter's narration style was the reason why people like it so much. (;-; sorry, it'll probably only be there for that chapter only or if when the others meet)  
> I'll update ever Tuesday OR Wednesday a week (not both the same week, sorry!), unless there's a schedule/writing obstacle.  
> Thanks again all you lovelies for reading my fic! You're all so rad!!

* * *

 

Before leaving the Underground, you had waken up to a large thump, silent cursing, and hurried shuffling.

Confusion is the first emotion you feel, because you do not remember your foster mother, TORIEL, cursing at all in your presence.

Of course, you were asleep, so you might not have heard it.

You take a deep inhale to yawn and smell whatever she has brought to your room, but your nose is immediately filled with dust.

As you try to cough, you feel that your chest has been constricted by tight wrappings.

After tearing through the paper and opening your eyes, you make a resolve:

You need to leave, _now_.

\---

While leaving the underground, you aggressively tear off the remaining bandages while mulling over your situation.

Before all of, well,  _this_ , the only thing you vaguely remember is facing ASGORE, the king of monsters, with all your might.

Anything else after that is a pure white light, something that you find extremely irritating.

Another thing you find irritating is that punching the wall in frustration doesn't help the situation.

But finding the room behind the throne room does, because upon entering it, you see  _him._

His body lay on the ground in a disheveled state.

You give it a kick.

When he groans in pain, you panic and dash through the room where the barrier once was.

\---

After leaving the underground, you become impatient in taking your time.

 _You want to leave_ , your mind says, but you can't. The cavern you walk through is dark and winding, and you can't afford to trip and lose your way.

Leaning against the side, you guide your way out of the winding tunnel that marks your last time in the underground.

In your state of isolation, your dark debacle finds its way back into your mind.

You try to remember anything before the fight, but it's only glimpses of ASGORE and the intimidating trident.

Suddenly you realize that you were killed.

You remember the cyan soul trapped in a cylinder next to him.

Suddenly it hits you that you were the second to die.

You punch the wall again in frustration, and continue on.

After a few moments, the cavern suddenly floods with amazing sunlight.

Excited to feel the light, your energy gets the better of you and you rush ahead, ignoring the shadow cast by the sun.

As you stomp out of the underground for the final time, you're ecstatic to feel the warmth again.

As it hits your skin, you feel as though you haven't felt this feeling in a long time.

"Hey."

There's another being. You look at them.

They look at you.

Not a monster, this time. A person.

They look you up and down in a condescending manner.

"You made nice work of your hand there," they say.

You look at your fist, and examine the roughed skin and drying blood on your knuckles.

You miss your tough glove.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's not as good/poetic as the first, though. It was kinda tired when I wrote this ;-;  
> I'll see you next week.


	3. The Third Soul (Blue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the late update!  
> Here's a link to a post I'd like you all to see [ this post here ](http://toriel-femur.tumblr.com/post/132977249010/empty-grave-readers) regarding updates in the immediate future  
> As always, thanks for reading you guys!
> 
> EDIT: I know this chapter is _really_ choppy. It's mostly because it was a little rushed, I admit, so don't be surprised when the text changes a little. The next chapter will be a lot better, I promise! (and thanks for reading!)

* * *

 

Before leaving the underground, you did not expect this at all.

The first emotion you feel is surprise; you had expected to die and stay that way.

When you escape your constraints and lift off the lid of your coffin, you're irritated at that fact that even in the Underground, things just don't seem to go your way.

After hearing a large boom and a low grumble down whatever hall you're in, you decide that things will continue to be that way if you don't wait a while.

\---

When leaving the Underground, things start to look a little brighter (figuratively _and_ literally).

As you leave the chamber rooming your coffin, you realize that somehow you've survived encounters with  _HER_ , literal  _death,_ and nearly being _buried alive_ to see the long awaited liberation of monster kind. _  
_

As you walk down the hall of NEW HOME, you notice its dull gray halls start to become slightly tinted with light.

As you pass through the throne room, you hope that the golden flowers will someday see the sunlight too.

As you find yourself in the room behind the throne room, you find yourself in the presence of several unconscious monsters.

Many of them you don't recognize, but with the dim light from the sun, you're able to make out a few that you do.

You see UNDYNE, the monster who ended your life.

You see TORIEL, your mother.

And you see ALPHYS. You don't know much about her, but she gave you a call about anime once that was pretty nice.

When you turn, you see the large looming figure of a monster you haven't seen before, and they are  _very_   conscious.

Despite his large size and intimidating demeanor, he gives you a sad look, and you figure he means no harm.

When you ask for directions out of the Underground, he points to a small hall in the corner of the room.

Taking his advice, you wave good bye.

He waves back sadly.

You leave.

\---

After leaving the underground, you couldn't believe how long the cave was.

When you found yourself in the large hallow cavern to the surface, the light of the sun was just barely shining into into it.

Not wanting to waste your time, you were determined to find some sort of alternative.

After a few minutes of aimlessly waving around, falling, and climbing, you were able to find a second path.

The path was smaller, darker, and steeper, but you figured that the amount to time you'd save by taking it would be well worth it.

As you continued to climb your way through, your environment changes, and the light from the sun shines through openings in the wall.

With the openings gradually growing larger, you find yourself with a near birds-eye view of the original path, now filled with sunlight.

Two shadows that stretch from the end are standing still, and for the first time after leaving the Underground, you're  _excited._

Excitedly racing to the end of your path, you find your self bathed in the glorious sunrise and _boy,_ you're up way higher than you expected.

You can see well above the surrounding trees, and swear that you can see houses.

When you hear voices coming from below, you look down and see two people in a disheveled and you realize you might not look much better.

You call to them and wave frantically.

"Hey!"

They look up, and you laugh when you see their eyes go wide.

"Uh...." the one in the cyan shirt scratches their head, "Do you need any help?"

"No, thanks!" you respond.

You examine the rough edges of the mountain and spot several ledges.

"I think I've got it figured out!"

You giggle when start to descend, leaping from your exit to the ledges.

As fun as this is though, you wish you had your ballet shoes.

 


	4. The Fourth Soul (Purple) and the Fifth Soul (Green)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Through knowledge and kindness, some can reach an understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shit, man. It's been a year.  
> lmao sorry about that!!!!!  
> This is continuing, so don't worry it won't be another year until the next chapter
> 
> EDIT 1/13/17: Happy New Year! Sorry for the lack of another chapter. I know it's been almost a month, but the holidays combined with my overall lack of motivation makes it really hard to keep a consistent schedule. Anyway, I made a few edits to the text, like grammar errors and redundant comments, e.t.c.. Any pointers are greatly appreciated! Thanks for your patience.

 

 

 

 

 

For the first time in your life, you feel chilled to the bone. Even the wintery temperatures of Snowdin couldn't cool you down, but this.... This was different.

You took pride in your ability to gather necessary information, to prepare and move on, but nothing ever prepared you for this.

Nothing.

When you open your eyes, it's immediately clear that you don't have your glasses.

The shades of gray that dominate your vision aren't clear, melding endlessly into one another, constantly shifting and switching, mentally overwhelming you.

You close your eyes, and the solidness of the black comforts you, but another horrible, gut wrenching realization makes the rest of your body, even your soul, feel much more colder.

You don't even know where you are.

Knowing that opening your eyes is useless, you try to shift.

Something tears, and releases your arms from your sides.

_You've been wrapped?_

Adrenaline rushes through your body and you start to breath heavily, causing you to inhale an inappropriate amount of dust.

You rush to take the wrappings off your face,  and the knuckles of your sore hands graze something above you.

You freeze

It's stone.

It's cold.

And it's less than a foot away from your face.

It's so, _so_ cold. So  _close_.

_Too_ close.

You move your hands across the stone surface, and when your arms are almost spread apart your pinkies touch walls.

_Walls._

When you try to recoil, the width of the box you lay in causes your knees to rub against the walls, scraping them.

When you try to process this, you just sit.

And sit.

And sit.

And sit.

And sob.

You can't handle this.

The sobs you make are pathetic, and the frantic pounding of your fists on _whatever in anybody's name_ is covering you shows pure, unadulterated desperation.

Your mind scrambles desperately to piece together some sort of semblance, some sort of _sense,_ but all you can find is more and more  _dust_ as you inhale from your tantrum.

As your sobs increase in volume, so does the speed of your hands slamming on the lid.

Everything's wrong, everything's  _wrong, everything's wrong wrong wrong_.

And then suddenly the lid of your box moves, ever so slightly, and you stop. Moving.

* * *

When you came to the underground, waking up wasn't anything like this.

Waking up, to you at least, was waking up in soft smelling flower petals, and being greeted by someone who smelled of butter scotch pie.

Albeit, the waking up in the flowers part hurt just a  _little_ bit, but the wonderful soul who cleaned you and fed you certainly made that pain go away.

Now, whatever time it was in the present, waking up apparently meant inhaling musty air and dust and being trapped in small spaces.

And.... As you strained your ears... Muffled sobbing...?

The sobbing and the frantic banging is what brought you out of your shocked stupor, even though you didn't even know if the sound was real enough.

When it started, it sounded real enough, at least.

As you listened, the muffled noises got louder, and louder, and louder until it was certainly audible that someone, somewhere  _in this room_ , was crying.

When the wrappings were off, and you took a slow, careful breath (to avoid practically  _eating_ dust bunnies), you pushed on the lid with all of your might and finally saw something other than dim gray.

Illuminated gray. This room was definitely gray.

Your mind, filled with clouds as gray as the room, started to clear as you looked around.

There was only a slight sinking feeling when you saw the adjacent coffins.

Some were opened, some were closed, and the trait they all shared was the single heart engraved into the lid.

You take a deep breath to both finally breath fresh air, and to process the somber situation.

....

The coffins were something new, at least.

When you raise your arms to wipe your dusty eyes, something sags on your arms and your torso.

To your surprise, you wore a tunic emblazoned with the underground's symbol instead of your regular clothes.

You were snapped away from admiring the tunic's lovely emerald color when you hear the sobbing again, this time clearer than before.

This time, much more louder than before.

You don't really notice how much time passed since you last heard the sobbing, but regardless, it needs to stop.

Pushing yourself out of the coffin is an absolute  _chore,_ and as you rise you pretend you can hear your joints creak.

After you're finally back on two feet, you take a moment to pat yourself on the back.

A somewhat sarcastic, yet still genuine, voice pops up in the back of your head.

_Wow!! You got up!! Congrats, look at you! You didn't even need life alert!_

You manage a quick chuckle before something starts making a banging noise and  _oh right, someone might've sounded like they needed help_.

It's only after reaching the purple coffin and nudging its lid that you feel the regret of leaping out of your own coffin and speed walking to this one.

The world suddenly feels like it's leaning and you oblige by leaning as well and  _oh hey look at that I'm on the ground now_.

_You need to breath,_ you remind yourself, but it's hard and it feels like someone's punted your heart into your brain and-

your breath hitches when you see the purple coffin's lid slide off on its own.

* * *

 It's as if the lid's nudge brings you back a bit, and you sit there long enough to calm down.

Small pillars of light filter through and you can see a bit more clearly.

_Good_ you tell yourself. _This is good._   _This is progress_.

You still a little bit so you can calm down, recuperate, and think.

It's hard at first, but the job is made easy when you take in a deep breath of fresh air.

_Ok_ , you think, _why did this open?_ _More importantly, who opened it? Most _ _importantly, why had they **wanted**_ _to open it?_

You take another moment of silence to clear your head, and eventually, small gasps that aren't your own meet your ears.

_Oh..?_

Your previous thoughts are pushed to the back of your mind when you snap back into  _get out of this mcfreakin coffin mode_.

Your hands automatically bring themselves to the new opening, and with little effort you practically _shove_ the lid off.

* * *

 The kid sits up like a goddamn robot and  _holy moly she's b u f f._

Her purple tunic looks like it's been changed in some places so it doesn't cling, but it's still tight enough to let you know that she could probably crush your head in her hands.

You look her in the eyes, and despite her looking right at you, it takes her a bit to notice.

She squints to focus her eyes, and she manages an "Uh," while you manage an "UH."

Awkward silence falls between you both, but she breaks it as easily as she could probably break you in twoO UH.

* * *

"Why did you help me?" the tone of your question is deadly serious, and while part of you feels bad for lack of an introduction, the other part doesn't care because kiddo,  _you mean big business._

"uHHM," they start with a voice crack and a cough, "you were, um. Crying. And stuff."

You can practically hear their sweating over all of their heavy breathing.

You twirl your fingers in your lap.

"I look like shit, don't I?" you ask.

After a little bit, they reply with a reluctant, "...maybe..."

There's another pause before they humorously ask, "I sound like shit, don't I?"

You chuckle a bit and reply, "yeah, you do."

The two of you share a short bout of laughter before the kid bursts into a coughing fit.

* * *

 She makes you an offer.

"Wha-" is all you can say before the fit takes over again. Just about how much dust did you inhale?

"Be my eyes," she says in a way like there isn't another option, " and guide us out of here."

"What's in it for me?" you ask, "Are you gonna carry me or something?"

She doesn't hesitate in replying, "Obviously."

Oh.

* * *

 The two of you take a few minutes to navigate out of the gray area.

After an adjustment or two (they're surprisingly squirmy???), both of you figure out something mutually comfortable and start the march forward.

"Be careful," they say, their arms are wrapped around your neck and you think you can feel them shake a bit, "there are stairs."

You grunt in affirmation and continue a bit more confidently than you'd like to admit.

"Wai-" is all they can say before you completely trip over the first step and send yourself and your companion sprawled on the stairs.

"Shit," you mutter when you pick them up.

" _Watch your pro-fan-i-ty_ " they say in a pitched voice.

"What?" you reply. You are confused.

They snort. "It's nothing," they say, and they laugh to themselves like it's some sort of inside joke.

At the top, they start laughing again, at first quietly, but then it gets louder to the point where they're almost yelling.

"What? Is there something I'm not getting?" for some reason, you can't help but smile too.

It takes them a bit to quiet down, and when they reply their voice is still pitched with laughter.

"I warned you, bro," they say, and it sounds like they're almost teary eyed, "I wnarned you about hte stairs, bro."

Never mind.

The halls you walk into are easier to navigate, the only issue being the occasional bump against the turn of the walls.

They're still laughing, even as you walk into the next room, but this time you can feel their pulse quicken through their wrist on your neck.

"Is everything ok?" you ask. It's getting a bit hard to focus, this room is dark, and it smells so strange.

You swear you can catch a hint of butterscotch pie and-

The uncharacteristic intensity of their voice interrupts your thought, "Keep going," they reply, and now their laughter feels hushed and fake.

"Are you oka-," you try to start, but they hush you.

" _Please,_ " they practically beg.

Something wet falls on your arm, but they quickly wipe it away.

You reluctantly shrug, "Alright."

You can smell snow, and bones, and fish, and golden flowers, and-

Blinking the tears away is difficult when you know who's in the room.

You keep going.

* * *

 The two of you walk through the deep cave in silence until it feels like you can't bare to not say something.

"Sooooo," you take a deep breath, "how long?"

"Hmm?" she asks, and you can see her eyebrows raise in question.

"OhH, uhm if it's a sensitive subject you don'thavetoanswer-"

"My eyes?" she says, "eh, it's a bit sensitive, but," she lifts you up a bit so she can readjust her hold on you, "I'm willing to talk about it."

"Okay," you quietly say, "start whenever you'd feel comfortable."

She takes a few steps before she starts with, "I've had horrible eyesight since I was young."

You don't mean to be rude but by the time she says "I've" you're already lost in tracing her jawline and her cheekbones and-

When she's in the middle of, "I can see color and general shapes, but it's like nothing has lines," She hikes you up again with ease and you let out a yelp in surprise.

"Are you ok?" she asks, and she sounds really concerned and o _h no I hope I didn't worry her too bad_.

"I-i'm fine," you say, "Please, continue."

You make an effort to pay attention to her more as you make your way through the tunnel, interrupting her ever so often to give a direction.

Her story lasts until the entrance to the tunnel, where you stop and bask in the rising sun.

Gently, she puts you down on your two feet, and it's there that you get a good look at her.

She rises a  _least_ half a foot taller than you, and she looks absolutely  _beautiful_ in the sun.

* * *

 You may be legally blind  _and_ without your glasses, but it's not difficult to deduce that they've been staring at you for a while.

You think to yourself about how the walk through the tunnel had felt very, very strange.

You wouldn't call yourself  _guarded_ , but it's not every day that you talk to someone about your disability.

Every other time someone had asked you, it was difficult because it felt as though they only wanted to hear so they could pity you, but this time?

It was surprisingly easy.

"There's a fire," they say, "can you see the smoke?"

"A little bit," you respond, "but I can mostly smell it."

They offer to take your hand and lead you, but you politely decline and reassure them that you can take it from here.

It becomes very clear that you don't got this, because instead of setting foot on the path, you nearly stumble onto the rough (and steep) incline of the mountainside.

The two of you share a nervous chuckle as they guide you down.

Once the two of you got close enough, you can see two blue blobs and one orange heading towards you with open arms.

At least, you would see them, if you weren't distracted by the green of your friend's tunic, and how their skin glowed in the soft sunlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> greens a memer and definitely maybe might have a tendency to have crushes on buff people
> 
> purple's buff


End file.
